Sean
Kosher food is any food or beverage that Jewish dietary laws allow a person to eat. Kosher food is essentially food that does not contain any non-kosher ingredients.
Some of the requirements of Jewish dietary law require that:
- Meat and milk products are not mixed together
- Animal products from non-kosher animals (like pork) are not included
- Any meat from kosher animals is slaughtered in the correct procedure (similar to halal meat for Muslims)
There are a number of other requirements both in the process of food preparation and who performs the process.
Nowadays, because of the complexity of how food is produced, there is a kosher certification process that checks that all criteria for kosher have been met. When food has gone through the kosher certification process by a kosher agency and meets all the requirements, it is indicated on the packaging by a kosher symbol as shown in the image above. There are hundreds of Kosher certification agencies in the US.
